Monday, April 11, 2011

Treasure Lace

This shawl has came a long way as it has taken me almost 5 months to make it happen. I have never worked on a project for so long & put so much effort into it. My apologies to those of you who have seen the shawl way back in early Dec & had waited patiently for the pattern. I think I owe all of you an explanation ......


...... it started way back in Nov last year when my dear friend, Helen gave me 4 skeins of Handmaiden Cashmere & Silk. Helen was clearing her house & she knew that she will not have the time to use it. As the yarn was too gorgeous to be sitting in her stash, she wanted me to use it. I knew Helen loves this yarn & she had bought it in her favorite color & I knew she will want the yarn knitted up.


So I decided to design a shawl with the yarn & knit it up for Helen's birthday in January. The timing was really bad as I was leaving for a 5 week holiday soon. But I managed to decide on a design & knit the shawl all in 3 weeks. I was so pleased with it & had to show it to the ladies in my knitting group & they loved it. Then came the requests for a pattern but my initial thought was that it was a special design for a dear friend & I am not writing up the pattern.

I gave Helen the shawl on her birthday & she was delighted with it & again the requests for a pattern came. Helen also encouraged me to write up the pattern & this time I relented & started working on it.


My initial notes were quite brief, so I had to knit the shawl again & this time, I used Malabrigo Lace as another option & also I wanted one in a smaller size. The 1st shawl that I knitted for Helen was quite large as Helen is a tall lady & she needs the length to wrap around her. Helen's shawl is 80" long. The 2nd shawl that I knitted is 60" long & it is just right for me. I love the feel of Malabrigo lace as it's so soft .....


By then, it was Feb & the start of a new school term. That delayed the writing of the pattern but I managed to get it out to the test knitters (who were waiting eagerly for the pattern). While the pattern was being test knitted, I decide to do my own test knitting & knitted the 3rd shawl in Handmaiden Sea Silk .....


Again, the shawl turned out great & I decided to send it to a dear friend in Singapore whom I recently spend some time with during my holidays there.

The next problem was deciding on a name for the shawl. As it is an Estonian lace pattern, I decided to translate the name of the stitch pattern - Treasure Lace. I think the name fits the shawl as it is Helen's treasure that started this whole process.

Treasure Lace, in 2 sizes, is now ready to meet the outside world. The pattern is up for sale on Ravelry & it had came a very long way .......



8 comments:

Rose Red said...

What a great story and a beautiful gift for your friends.

2paw said...

It is a lovely story about how you made your shawls and pattern. It is a treasure!!

Roseann said...

I am fascinated and amazed at your designing abilities. Is there a pattern book in your future? At least a magazine publication? You are truly talented and I enjoy admiring your beautiful shawls!

Paulette said...

What a beautiful shawl!! As soon I finish this comment, going to Rav to buy it---really love it! Thanks for writing it up! Paulette

Bells said...

it's beautiful! Such a long gestation but so worth it. I love all the versions. Thanks for all your hard work!

Rachel said...

It's lovely...and while I'm glad you decided to write up the pattern, I think it says so much that you wanted your friend to have a one of a kind shawl. That's special.

Sue said...

What a gorgeous gift for your friend. I think it is very beautiful and perfect in that color.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful shawl and how lovely to design it for your friend.